


Let it Snow

by Freedom_and_Friendship



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: (No but for real), F/M, Ghost Johnny, I have no idea what I'm doing, Poorly written sappy romantic bullshit, This is a total shitshow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28336812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedom_and_Friendship/pseuds/Freedom_and_Friendship
Summary: Two years after Johnny sacrificed himself, V is driving along an icy road in the Northern Yukon thinking about how his life has changed since he left Night City.He finds that - all things being equal - he prefers his new life, out in the wilderness with his family.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand & V, Panam Palmer/Male V, Panam Palmer/V
Comments: 16
Kudos: 101





	Let it Snow

It was a short drive at this time of year, that is to say it was a short drive this time of year for a Nomad. A half-thousand miles through the boreal forests of the Northern Yukon, it was “a pathetic trip barely worth the effort” as Mitch had put it.

Mitch however, didn’t have to drive over the icy slush of the Biliton highway, illuminated only by the light of the stars overhead, with his ass glued to the seat and his eyes glued to the road.

Well, mostly glued to the road.

V couldn’t really help himself if occasionally his eyes slid from the road in front of him and danced across the truck’s cabin before landing on a certain sleeping form resting against the passenger door.

God his wife was fucking outstanding.

The starlight illuminated the sheen of her dark hair, and the soft crinkle of her cheeks, smiling even as she slept. V knew he was being stupid, in these conditions “you focused on the road,” Saul had hammered that into his head more than enough these past few weeks. But he also knew that, at this moment, he couldn’t tear his eyes away if he tried.

_You really are one lucky son of a bitch._

_“Shut the fuck up Johnny.”_

V didn’t know what that was. Whether it was something that had been left behind when Johnny sacrificed himself, or merely a construction of his own psyche, he knew it wasn’t a sign of upmost mental health.

_You know what I am, I’m the manifestation of your guilt for being a shitty friend and letting the best thing that has ever happened to you die for your sorry ass._

_Now blow up this highway. It was built by fucking corpos._

_“One, please shut the fuck up. Two, the best thing that has ever happened to me is Panam. And you know that.”_

_Eh, fair point. But given your remarkably shitty and pathetic life, butting heads with me is gotta be at least number two on the list of ‘amazing events that have blown your tiny mind.’_

_“Actually, I’d say meeting you probably ranks at the literal bottom of ladder for momentous events in my life.’_

_Were you really so scared because you thought might die? And here I thought you weren’t actually a little bitch._

_“Nah, I was actually just annoyed all the time because I had to listen to you talk all fucking day.”_

Funnily enough, the voice didn’t seem have a snarky comeback for that.

Despite it all however, V knew that sometimes he truly did miss Johnny. When he was alone and it was quiet, he missed having the cranky bastard in his head mouthing off at whatever Arasaka had recently done to catch his ire. In a sense, having Johnny in his head was having someone he could share everything with, someone he didn’t have to hold anything back from and despite how invasive and annoying it could be, at times it was also… liberating.

Which was why he never tried too hard to find out if his friend was really gone. V never wanted to discover that he really was alone and he was just making up the voices in his head. Sometimes it was just easier to pretend.

**

Global warming had sucked most of the whiteness from winters. From the pine trees at the bottom of valleys, to the cliffs far off in the distance, there was little trace of that fine white powder which had once made this holiday so special.

Sometimes however, when you were this far north and lady luck decided to smile your way, you might still catch a few small flurries here and there.

Like right now for instance.

V sat there amazed. Around the parked truck, there were glistening diamonds slowly falling to rest on the ground, on the hood of the car, on the roof of the log cabin. Panam absolutely had to see this.

“Hey. Hey. You gotta wake up.”

She groaned.

“You’re gonna want to see this.”

“I told you not to wake me till we get back to camp,” Panam mumbled, refusing change position.

“We couldn’t make it back it time – it was starting to cloud over and visibility had gone to shit. But seriously – open your eyes.”

Again, she groaned, before reaching out to stretch her arms and finally opening her eyes.

“Holy shit.”

“I know right?” V replied, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

Panam turned to face him, her smile growing to match his.

“You know what this means right?”

“What?” V asked, staring into those brown eyes he so adored.

“Snowball fight!”

Panam jumped out of the cabin and immediately went to ground, scraping together whatever whiteness that had collected on the dirt into something approximating a snowball. Chuckling to himself at his wife’s antics, V unbuckled his seatbelt and went to leave the truck’s cabin.

He had however, barely gotten out of the driver’s seat when he received a face-full of dirt and snow.

Staring at the faux-innocent smirk of his adoring wife, V spoke four immortal words.

“Oh, it is on.”

Their violent exchange of powder, being animated and extremely competitive, was also sadly a short one. Only so much snow had accumulated on the ground in the brief period that the crystals had actually been falling and after all, you could only pack so much dirt into a snowball.

And after Panam caught V in the face with a small rock only thinly coated in snow, they agreed by mutual consensus to stop.

“That last one did so not fucking count,” growled V, nursing his ‘injury’ on the ground next to his wife.

“It did too! I got you fair and square with that throw.”

V turned his head to look at Panam, who was adorably trying to maintain a look of innocence.

“You hit me in the head with a fucking rock.”

The look of innocence did not last long. Rather, her lips quirked up into a flirtatious smirk.

“Aww, does poor bubby need me to kiss it better?”

“Bubby, would like that very much thank you.” V replied sulkily.

Reaching over, Panam pressed her lips against V’s head.

“All better?”

“All better.” V whispered back, staring into his wife’s gorgeous brown eyes.

“Good!” Panam said, standing up. “Because, my ass is wet and I want to get inside. It’s freezing out here!”

“Aww, come don’t you wanna stay out here, look at the stars and say… keep each other warm?”

“Oh, so do you want to look at the stars now huh?” Panam responded brightly.

“Actually, on second thought…” V said, climbing to his feet, trying to forestall what was about to happen.

“Because I have a great memory for stars.” Pointing to the sky she identified an all too familiar constellation. “Do you see that one? It’s called the Big Dipper.”

“You really don’t have to.”

“And do you also see that small flickering star just off to the right?”

V stared irately at the amused woman standing in front of him.

“You’re really funny do you know that darling?” he spoke with not the slightest trace of condescension.

** 

As he sat by the fire, curled up in a blanket with his wife, V thought about what his life had become.

In some sense Johnny (or perhaps just his tortured psyche) was right. He did have a shitty and pathetic life. From his adoptive father beating him, to the clan disintegrating, to his coming to Night City, to Jackie dying, to him almost dying, to the shit they were currently in with Arasaka, everywhere he looked it was just shit, shit, shit.

But there were some good bits too.

Meeting Jackie had been an uptick in his life. As had been finding the Aldecaldos. And his friendship with Johnny had been a (mostly) pleasant surprise.

And of course, Panam. He would never be able to repay her for all she had done for him.

Speaking of.

“Hey.”

“What’s up?” came the drowsy response from the figure lying against his shoulder.

“I don’t know if you know what day it is today,” V started, trying desperately to get something, anything out. “But… back in my old clan we always used to share umm… presents today, or at least give stuff to people we care about.”

He paused briefly trying to find the right words.

“So, since we’re like… well…”

“Married,” Panam helpfully supplied, smiling all the while.

“Yeah… since we’re married, I though I’d give you something, if that’s ok?”

She kept smiling. That’s a good sign, right?

“Course, it’s ok champ, in fact it’s adorable.”

V groaned. His wife’s smile only grew wider.

“Now what did you get me?”

Reaching into his damp satchel, V pulled out a thin strip of galvanised steel.

Panam gasped. “Where the hell did you find a ¼ inch analogue torque wrench? They stopped production way back before the collapse. How did you even?”

V smiled and handed the wrench to her. “ I found it while we were down in Texas, and I had Delmain take a brief detour.”

As she held the wrench in her arms with the care one might cradle a newborn child, his wife looked up at him with unbridled adoration in her eyes.

“I love you,” she spoke, before wrapping her arms around his neck with a suggestive smirk. “And while I am definitely getting you a proper present next year, I sadly don’t have anything on me at the moment, so whatever will we do?”

And there it was. That was why he did it. Well actually he did it because he was an upstanding moral human being with impeccable virtues. But the ‘I love you’ and the sex were a nice bonus.

V smiled. “I’ll hold you to that. But you can keep admiring the wrench for now, I wouldn’t want to tear you two apart.

And as his wife went back to fussing over the wrench, like the absolutely insane woman she was, V’s gaze returned to the fire.

His life wasn’t going great to be honest. He still had a lot of problems. But still, there were things in it that were worth preserving, worth fighting for. Small moments like these when he was with his family, with his wife, and all the pain and suffering of the world simply fell away. Moments like this were worth dying for.

And as he looked into the flames dancing in front of him, V could almost catch a glint of mirrored lenses staring back at him.

_You’re doing alright kid. Keep it up._

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first time I've ever properly sat down and written anything. I guess that excuses it being complete crap? Idk though.
> 
> Also this was supposed to be posted on Christmas, but oh well.
> 
> C & C would be quite apprecieated if you're feeling generous.


End file.
